High Energy Particle Physics

0809 Submissions

Non-Unitary Evolution in High Energy Physics: a Brief Overview

Unitarity and locality are fundamental postulates of Quantum Field Theory (QFT).
By construction, QFT is a replica of equilibrium thermodynamics, where evolution
settles down to a steady state after all transients have vanished. Events unfolding
in the TeV sector of particle physics are prone to slide outside equilibrium under
the combined action of new fields and un-suppressed quantum corrections. In this
region, the likely occurrence of critical behavior and the approach to scale
invariance blur the distinction between "locality" and 2non-locality". We argue
that a correct description of this far-from-equilibrium setting cannot be done
outside nonlinear dynamics and complexity theory.
Category:High Energy Particle Physics